Semi-automatic firearms have been known for a long time. The first semi-automatic rifle was introduced in 1885. The M-16 automatic rifle has been used by the military for years. A civilian version of the M-16 is known as the AR-15 and is a semi-automatic rifle. The AR-15 has been manufactured and sold to civilians for many years. Standard AR-15 semi-automatic rifles are manufactured and distributed with detachable magazines. A detachable magazine allows a user to fire the gun multiple times until all bullets in the magazine have been fired. When the magazine is depleted, the user pushes a magazine release button. This releases the magazine from the rifle. The user may then insert a new magazine and resume firing. When used herein, the phrase “semi-automatic rifle” is intended to include the AR-15s previously and currently being manufactured.
Semi-automatic firearms, particularly those with detachable magazines, are coming under heightened regulation and restriction. A bill is currently pending before the U.S. Congress known as the “Assault Weapons Ban of 2013.” The bill states that “It shall be unlawful for a person to import, sell, manufacture, transfer, or possess, in or affecting interstate or foreign commerce, a semiautomatic assault weapon.” The bill defines a “semiautomatic assault weapon as:
“(A) A semiautomatic rifle that has the capacity to accept a detachable magazine and any 1 of the following: (i) A pistol grip. (ii) A forward grip. (iii) A folding, telescoping, or detachable stock. (iv) A grenade launcher or rocket launcher. (v) A barrel shroud. (vi) A threaded barrel.
(B) A semiautomatic rifle that has a fixed magazine with the capacity to accept more than 10 rounds, except for an attached tubular device designed to accept, and capable of operating only with, .22 caliber rimfire ammunition. Sec. 2(a)(1).”
The bill further defines a “detachable magazine” as “an ammunition feeding device that can be removed from a firearm without disassembly of the firearm action.” The bill also defines a “fixed magazine” as “an ammunition feeding device that is permanently fixed to the firearm in such a manner that it cannot be removed without disassembly of the firearm.”
As such, the planned legislation would ban all semi-automatic rifles that can accept a detachable magazine, all semi-automatic rifles that have a fixed magazine that accept more than ten rounds, and any part, combination of parts, component, device, attachment, or accessory that is designed or functions to accelerate the rate of fire of a semiautomatic rifle.
The standard semi-automatic rifle is manufactured and sold with a detachable magazine. Users can replace a magazine in the standard semi-automatic rifles without disassembling the firearm action. Such semi-automatic rifles are likely to face increased restriction and regulation. What is needed is a device and method for easily converting a semi-automatic rifle with a detachable magazine to a semi-automatic rifle with a fixed magazine.